I grew up playing sports and have always been a pretty active person. Since graduating from college and retiring my lacrosse cleats, running and interval workouts have been my go to’s for fitness. I’ll throw in a hike, swim, or Bikram yoga class here or there, but running and HIIT workouts work with my schedule so that’s what I do on a regular basis. My motivation to workout is of course to stay in shape, but since becoming a mom in particular it’s mostly driven by the effects it has on my energy level and mental fitness. Plus, when you’re carrying and chasing two toddlers around at once, it helps to be able to keep up with them.
I ran until the last month of my pregnancy not because I’m a fitness fanatic, but because the days that I didn’t get a workout in I felt really rotten. Even if I was dog tired, I was able to push myself to get a run in and felt SO much better afterwards. Then when the boys came and I felt the effects of real sleep deprivation, the exercise came into play even more. I’m a very routine oriented person so keeping myself on a fitness regimen has always been easy for me. The most difficult it’s ever been was after having the boys, but that’s also the most important it has ever been.
After the first six weeks home with boys, aka six weeks of nursing, diapering, swaddling, sleeping 1-2 hours at a time, and doing laundry, I was so desperate to get myself back together. I missed my clothes. I missed the fresh air of my morning runs. I missed the high of endorphins running through my body and that fantastic feeling of pure physical exhaustion after pushing yourself so hard in a workout. As soon as I got the go ahead from my doctor I started back up right away.
While I was bursting to get back on the trail, it wasn’t always easy to sacrifice time I hardly had to spare. Working against the clock and my sleep deprived self, I stuck to a set of tactics and in the end made it work. Three months after giving birth I was back in my regular jeans and it was worth every moment of extra sleep I missed. All it comes down to is determination and consistency. Here are the fitness fundamentals I used to get back in shape after babies:
- Nutrition. The food you put in your body is a critical component to fitness. If you want your body to perform well, you have to fuel it well. I don’t do diets and I am a firm believe in moderation, not deprivation. Eliminating entire food groups and depriving yourself (or overdoing it) with treats does not make for a healthy relationship with food. You’re entitled to enjoy yourself, but focus on the quality not quantity. I literally make a trip to Trader Joe’s once a week to get my favorite bar of extra dark chocolate, which I treat myself to after dinner. For me nutrition is about eating natural foods in their least processed form and fueling my body for the day. I stick to fruit, nuts, yogurt, and whole grains for my first two meals and protein and vegetables for dinner. Beverages are where the real baddies can sneak up on you. I mostly stick to water, milk, coffee, and tea during the day, and red wine and vodka cocktails when I’m out. The two things that I do my best to beware of are fried foods (except French fries, because… French fries) and sugar. If I absolutely must add sugar to something I’ll sparingly use honey, agave, organic maple syrup, or coconut sugar (for baking.) I don’t really do cheat days. For me what I eat is a part of my lifestyle. It fills me up and make me feel good. After doing this for so long, your body begins to crave the good stuff, making it easier to say no to the junk.
- Set a realistic schedule. The trick to developing a successful fitness regimen is setting a realistic schedule. Decide how many and which days you can work out, how long you need to get ready and complete the workout, and what time this will all be done. Most importantly, give yourself at least one off day a week to reset. I workout 5 days during the week and take the weekends off. Before becoming a mom I loved exercising on the weekends, but now I revel in having down time with the Mister and an open schedule for dates and outings with the boys. I feel really horrible when I skip a workout, so I make sure I don’t schedule them on days or times when I will be tempted to miss. During the week I’m on a much tighter schedule. At 6 AM Max (my trusted golden retriever running partner) and I are out the door and hitting the pavement. After our run we come home and I do a HIIT workout at the house. Then after a quick shower I get dressed and am off to start the day with the boys. Although it’s not always easy getting out of bed at 5:45 AM, come 7:00 AM I feel refreshed, energized, and ready to start the day with a clear, rejuvinated mind.
- Program ahead. I didn’t start regularly programing my workouts until during my pregnancy when the bump began creating all sorts of limitations and I needed a plan for what exercises I was able to do. Having a preset plan allows you to be more efficient in the morning when you’re pressed for time and often aren’t awake enough to formulate a coherent workout on the spot. The night before I review my workout and check the weather so I can have an idea of what equipment I need to get out and what I should wear to go outside. Now I program my workouts on a monthly basis. Two days of the week I do benchmark workouts and keep track of my times to make sure I am keeping pace. The other three days I leave for variety: new things I want to try, old workouts that I really enjoyed, or a circuit to target a particular area. Keep an archive of your programming as well because those can help for future programing and can be recycled if you happen to be jammed at the end of the month and don’t get around to creating an entirely new monthly program.
- Discipline. You have your schedule and your program, so now it’s time to show up and implement it. You go to bed so excited about your new plan, and then next thing you know your alarm goes off and you’re laying there trying to convince yourself that an extra hour of sleep is better for you than exercise. The best piece of advice I can give for this is simple, Don’t hit snooze. I used to set my alarm clock early so that I could snooze once, and then maybe twice if I would hurry up getting ready. I found that when I just altogether made a rule that I get straight out of bed at the first alarm it eliminated the internal argument with myself over if I could hit snooze one more time. It’s a simple but very effective rule. Another useful tool for sticking to your regimen is accountability. Having a workout buddy makes it more difficult to skip out on workouts. Max has been my running partner for 8 years now, and unless I am unconscious or on my death bed I won’t ever let that guy down. I mean, he’s so cute… how could you?!